It’s all Mandarin to me
Ever wonder what goes on inside the mind of Julius Nicolson types? Well thanks to a FOI release of the weekly blog of top civil servant Permanent Secretary Sir Peter Housden, all is revealed! 
Originally for the consumption of Scotland’s civil servants via their intranet site, Sir Peter updated his colleagues on matters ranging from traditional mandarin activities to his tedious middle class existence outside of office hours.
They read very much like a 21st Century version of Grossman’s Diary of a Nobody.
You can view the released files in full here* but below includes a selection of his finest musings:
“A baking hot weekend in London, hiding indoors for the most part. But we did venture out to the opera – this time to see a superb production of Don Giovanni…They are given under a canopy in Holland Park, and this time at a critical point, a pigeon flew in to join the proceedings and looked around rather disdainfully for a while before finding the way out. Perhaps she prefers Beethoven.” (12/07/2010)
“I spent quite a bit of time this weekend with office papers… But I did get some time to have a mooch up and down George Street and get into Harvey Nicks, ostensibly in search of a raincoat. I came home with a jumper and a shirt, but that’s shopping isn’t it?” (06/09/2010)
“…in best Bridget Jones fashion, I can report Walks to Work (4), Pars at Duddingston (7,) Lost Balls (1), Swims (1), Car Wash (1) and Tyres Inflated (4). They needed it.” (31/01/2011)
“And finally, in the interests of greater flexibility on the golf course, I plan on Monday night to make my second visit to a yoga class. And if that doesn’t work, I shall try Pilates. Desperate? Yes, I suppose so.” (15/08/2011)
As an interesting aside, Sir Peter currently earns approximately £180,000 p/a…
(*Caution: contains excruciatingly awful material)
November 12th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I actually found the remark about a pigeon prefering Beethoven quite funny. So he has a part of his life where he’s not being a public servent: nothing I’d criticise him for.
November 13th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
This is a great spot leslie.
I am always bemused when anyone feels that such “musings” are of interest to anyone – particularly work colleagues.
How does Sir Peter know its a “she” pigeon I wonder – or is he one of those pc types that insists “if in doubt – use the feminine form.
(Have horrid picture in my head – I now cannot shake – of Sir Peter in leotard doing the “one legged King pigeon”. Thanks for that)
November 13th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
#TCR MacD
The Scottish Government’s excuse for his blog is that it provides a “window” into his thinking. Most of his updates are (unintentionally) funny in an embarrassing sense but there is a wider debate up here as to his suitability for the top job (which wasn’t my intention in my piece).
#Angela
“I am always bemused when anyone feels that such “musings” are of interest to anyone – particularly work colleagues.”
Indeed. It almost makes me feel sorry for his fellow Sir Humpheries. Well almost…
November 14th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Leslie – I think that anyone on £180,000 a year can probably afford his own “personal sympathiser”.
November 14th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
It’s more the ordinary civil servants I would feel sorry for in being subjected to his ramblings. However, if they are like me, they’d probably just take the piss out of him.